Rain, rain, go away……please August 10, 2011

Well, the weather forecast for the week could not have been more wrong. We never had the days of sunshine promised. We woke this morning to more rain than ever. Can’t see in the distance. Miserable day. Too messy to get out to do anything. So it’s been reading and watching movies for us. And will probably be so again tomorrow. Forced relaxation, but when you’re on Skye, the most beautiful place in the world, it is hard to sit still and not be out in the amazing landscapes. : (

Of course, no pictures for today. All you would see is dreary rain and fog.

Movies of Ray’s Hike in the Quiraings

The Quiraing August 9, 2011

) The Quiraing August 9, 2011

As you drive further north on Skye, the mountains become more and more spectacular. The townships of the Staffin area give some of the best examples of crafting on Skye. Crofting is a system of agriculture based on a unique form of landholding, which offers statutory security of tenure. It was introduced in the last century in an attempt to bring and end to the iniquities of the Highland Clearances in which hundreds of thousands of people were forced off the land by the big landowners to make way for “improvements,” such as large-scale sheep farming or deer forests. This system allows for passing the land down to your children through the generations. Today most crofters have a regular job in addition to working the croft, and many crofters provide bed and breakfast accommodation for visitors. The crofts at Staffin are clustered around a beautiful sandy bay.
The Quiraing is the home of some of the weirdest rock formations ever seen. The whole of the Trotternish Ridge escarpment was formed by a great series of landslips. The Quiraing is the only part of the slip still moving, the road at its base near Flodigarry requires repairs each year. Parts of the distinctive landscape have earned particular names. The Needle is a jagged 120-foot high landmark pinnacle, a remnant of landslipping. Northwest of it is The Table, a flat grassy area slipped down from the summit plateau, with vistas of the Torridon Hills and the mountains of Wester Ross. Southwest is the Prison, a pyramidal rocky peak which can look like a medieval keep when viewed from the right angle - the ascent of this is an airy scramble, which I am very gald Ray didn’t attempt.
He did see the Needle (which is said to be terrifying even in the daytime), the Cup (where cattle was hidden at times of raids), and the Prison, and came near the Table. After seeing his movies of the climb, sometimes the cliffs at 60% angles, I am very glad to have foregone the experience. It has done nothing but rain since we got here, and the idea of a slippery, rocky path doesn’t really appeal to me. Especially when I can see everything from a distance and be just as satisfied. And there were midges, so that settles it! The Uig Road just above our cottage links Staffin and Uig with views of these formations and a steep and tortuous climb over the Quiraing. The road the winds through moor and peat bogs before rejoining the coast road for the drop into Uig.

After lunch, we did one of my exploration trips that I have planned out. Again we took the shortcut road to Uig. It may be dramatic and terrifying at times, but it isn’t the worst road we’ve been on and it certainly does have some magnificent sights. Uig is the ferry terminal for trips out to the Western Isles. There are many tales of witches here and they are said to be plentiful in Uig. In 1881, there was a warrant put out for a witch by the Elder of the Free Church. The Fairy Glen is also here along with Fraser’s Folly, built on a whim in the mid 1800s with no particular purpose. Uigg, Prince Edward Island, Canada, was named by settlers from Uig.
Southward we drove to Kensaleyre where, standing by the shore, are 2 stones. There used to be 3 and the 3rd one supposedly supported the cauldron of venison stew for Fiennes, the giant who threw stones into the water. In Edinbane, there is supposed to be a lovely Victorian hospital, Gesto Hospital, that is no longer in use but was sorth taking a look at. Only trouble, we couldn’t find it. Drove all over the SMALL town but no hospital-like building to be seen.

We drove on and made the turn towards Waternish and saw the Fairy Bridge. It was here that the fairy wife of a MacLeod chief left him to return to her own people after a marriage of a year and a day, which was all that the Fairy King would allow. She left behind both husband and child. The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan Castle was reputed to be a parting gift to her husband. It is said that no horse will ever cross this bridge, and it was funny that today as we passed, there were cows on the near end and one on the far end and they were looking at the bridge like they were afraid to move. Veeerrrry interesting. Fairies are said to dance on the green triangle of grass near the bridge and 2 men were found murdered here not too long ago.

Further north, where the river cleaves its way through a gorge to the sea, stands a mound which is now all that remains of the Temple of Anaitis. There is a tradition that this was once a great temple here that was the center of the ancient pagan faith of Skye. This was a pre-Christian Hebridean mystery school. Dr. Boswell visited the site in 1773 and wrote about a temple of the goddess Anaitis. At the time he found many cairns and stone walls, and many ruins of houses, all in the 2 acre spot on consecrated ground. Many graves and clusters of stones were also found. Only about 1 ½ foot of the walls of the main house remained. He was told by the man that took him to the site that Anaitis’ statue was kept in the house and taken down to the water to be washed.

There are some who believe that Jesus may have visited this school with Joseph of Arimathea. The reason for this belief is that Eilean Isa (Island of Jesus) is very near to the site. Barry Dunford speaks of this island, too, in his book, “Were Jesus & Mary Magdalene on the Holy Isle of Iona?” He writes: The island name is currently spelled Isay, which translates from the Gaelic as the “Island of Jesus.” Isa is the middle Eastern Arabic name for Jesus, whereas His name in Gaelic is Iosa. So why do we find the appellation of this island with the Arabic spelling rather than the Gaelic? Interestingly, there are no religious sites on Eilean Isa or anything to suggest that it’s name was conceived from a religious dedication. During the early centuries AD, a placename was often given to record the actual presence and sanctification of a specific place by the early Celtic Christian monastic saints who were seen as holy men and women. So it could be conjectures that the “Island of Jesus” was so named as a result of being sanctified by the presence of Jesus Himself.

In the early 19th century, Isay had a population of around 90 and had its own general store and fishing station. However, like many other small islands, the island people were removed during the Highland Clearances to make way for sheep. The island was briefly owned by the singer Donovan in the 1980s.

Next we made a return visit to the Trumpan Church at the most northerly end of the Waternish peninsula. This is the church we visited with Margaret & Colin but I forgot to look for two things. One was the old basalt font that sits on the ground in a corner of the ruins. It is said to never be dry, and indeed it was wet today. The other item was the Trial Stone or the Heaven Stone. This is a monolith with a hole in it. If you were led to it with your eyes closed and could get your finger in the hole on the first attempt, it meant you would attain Heaven. If not, then Hell was your destination. If accused of a crime, a blindfolded person who could put their finger straight through the hole on the first try was deemed to be innocent. If not, guilty.

Somewhere in this area is the Hanging Hill where the son of a judge was hanged on a gibbet from his own oars because he received the hospitality at Dunvegan then went to Islay and killed 3 MacLeods.

Just below the hill where the Trumpan Church ruins stand is Ardmore Point where Bonnie Prince Charles and Flora MacDonald were caught in a storm off shore and fired on by soldiers, causing them to go on to Loch Snizort to come ashore.

On the way home, we saw a HUGE Highland bull with the shaggy red-orange bangs hanging in his eyes and REALLY wide horns.

Oh, I need to mention the riots in London that are on the news. It seems that teenaged boys in towns around London are causing riots and starting fires and breaking into stores and looting. It has happened for the last 3 nights. The riots move around as they are coordinating them via Twitter. So what are the police doing? That is the strange thing. The rule in Britain is that the police are to use force only as a last resort. I am sitting here and watching businesses that have been in families for 5 generations go up in flames and am astounded that the police are not being more forceful. You know how long this would last in the States? And yes, I know that the US has been rightly accused of police brutality at times, but this is ridiculous to let this go on. And they boys know they will get away with it so it just goes on and on. I am truly amazed at this. And even more amazed that the policemen here do not carry guns!!! I guess that system works in more gentle times, but obviously this won’t work anymore. And this is a confirmed hippie peacenik talking.

Pictures from top: Fairy Bridge with reluctant cows; a peninsula on the Waternish Peninsula; Isle of Isay; view across form Aros Centre; yet another of the Old Man of Storr.